Mapmaker Henricus Hondius scrupulously recorded the known area of Antarctica in
1639—nothingness. Not given to conjuring continents on a whim, Hondius
confined his flights of fancy to the perimeter of his map, where Magellanic
penguins, native to South America, disport themselves. His conception endured
as a model for mapmakers for some 60 years, countering the traditional
mapmaker's penchant for speculating into existence what had not yet been seen
or explored.